COMMUTERS can save RM180 million a year when the toll on four highways in the Klang Valley are replaced with a congestion charge, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
“Initial projections estimate that commuters will save as much as RM180 million per annum immediately with the switch from toll to congestion charge,” he said at a media briefing to launch the mySalam website.
Putrajaya on Saturday said it has started talks with Gamuda Bhd to negotiate the acquisition of the four highways – Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP), Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat (SPRINT), Lebuhraya Shah Alam (KESAS), and the SMART Tunnel.
The acquisition of the highways will lead to the replacement of the tolls on the highways with a congestions charge model, the Prime Minister’s Office had said.
Lim said the savings that commuters will enjoy from the congestion charge will go to their disposable incomes.
He said the acquisition of the highways will take up to six months to complete.
He said if the acquisition is done at a fair price, the government and taxpayers will save about RM5.3 billion in compensation to highway companies in order to freeze toll rates until the end of the concession period.
Under the new model, the congestion charge will follow a variable pricing structure, which will depend on the time of the day.
The four tolled highways make up 48% of the market share (excluding the PLUS group) in terms of revenue collection.
The funds collected through the congestion charge will be sufficient to service the debt arising from the acquisition as well as to finance the operations and maintenance costs of the highways without requiring additional allocation from the Finance Ministry.
Lim said any surplus funds will be used to upgrade and maintain the public transport system.
The Finance and Health Minstries jointly launched the official website of the mySalam insurance scheme, which started operations today.
Beneficiaries can make their claims for the national health protection scheme catered for the Bottom 40 group, from March 1 onwards.
Those who are eligible will be notified via SMS from March 1, while recipients of the cost of living aid will automatically qualify for mySalam.
The Finance Ministry clarified that the 3.7 million beneficiaries of the scheme will not become clients of Great Eastern Takaful Bhd, the insurance provider of the scheme, as the scheme is owned by the government.
In addition to that, all data obtained will be protected under the Personal Data Protection Act.
Great Eastern had provided an initial seed funding of RM2 billion, which is expected to sustain the scheme for five years.
In that light, the government is looking to increase the size of its trust fund over time, with additional contributions from Great Eastern, other insurance companies as well as other sources to ensure its sustainability over a longer term.
Meanwhile, responding to a statement by Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s recently, on the health insurance scheme benefitting a single private insurance company, instead of the people, Lim said the government’s intention is to help the poor.
“Our intention is to help those poor Malaysians who are unfortunately have been afflicted by critical illness.
“So, we are talking about helping four million Malaysians and giving them coverage. If you want to question that then it is your right. We are not talking about politicising the issue, we are talking about helping the poor sections of the community.”
-https://www.themalaysianinsight.com
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